Mr. Hart called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m., as acting chair, in the James McDonnell meeting room in the Fort Hill Office Building. Mrs. Hawn asked the guests to please sign in, and also bring application forms back to their communities.
Mr. Hart recluse himself from this case and Mrs. Hawn took the chair. Bill Brar of Brar Associates made a second presentation to the Committee regarding a proposed townhouse development in the Fair Ridge area, north of Route 50, near the VEPCO property and the Pender United Methodist Church, for two story brick townhouses, with garages, which he was proposing as a very upscale community, although the site was not planned for residential at this time. He said his proposal for approximately 60 residential townhouses would generate much less traffic than the office use currently allowed in the Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Brar indicated that he had met with the surrounding residential communities, and that his impression was that they did not express any opposition to him. He indicated that he needed Supervisor Frey to authorize an out-of-turn plan amendment to go forward.
Mr. Brar answered a number of questions regarding the anticipated application and the existing Comprehensive Plan. Mrs. Heisinger moved that the SDC land use and transportation committee recommend to Supervisor Frey that the Board of Supervisors authorize an out-of-turn plan amendment for the property, to allow a residential option for townhouses. Mr. Tessier seconded. The motion carried, 4 in favor [Pujanauski, Hawn, Heisinger, Tessier], none opposed, 2 not voting [Hart, Frank].
Mr. Hart returned to the chair. Tim Sampson from the law firm of Walsh, Colucci made a presentation on the expansion of Fair Oaks Hospital. He had several consultants in attendance to answer questions, including Jim Wilmot the architect, Phil Yates of Dewberry & Davis engineering, Delegate Jim Scott, and several others.
Mr. Sampson stated that now that the Comprehensive Plan has been amended to increase the FAR from 0.2 to 0.3 and the maximum height has been increased from 60 feet to 100 feet, the applicant is requesting a proffer condition amendment and special exception amendment, to expand Fair Oaks Hospital. They propose a vertical expansion of the main building with an addition of about 29000 square feet to reorient the entrance of the hospital the other direction, with a 5th floor of usable space and the 6th floor for mechanical equipment to be enclosed. They showed an architectural rendering of the new facade. Also they propose an expansion of 30000 square feet for a previously approved but unconstructed office building, modifying the previously approved footprint, together with a 6000 square foot one level expansion to the radiology and oncology area. They propose a 5 level parking garage, one half-story underground, with 950 spaces, and an additional 100 surface parking spaces. They propose to delete the barrier fence towards Westvale Woods subdivision. They already will be widening Rugby Road and a stoplight will be installed at one intersection.
The applicant answered many questions from the committee, and from numerous residents in the audience. Issues included whether there would be a covered walkway from the parking areas to the hospital or office buildings, architectural issues, landscaping of the parking garage structure, noise from mechanical equipment, distance of the parking from the buildings, rooftop communications equipment/antennae, minimization of visual impacts, transportation questions, pedestrian circulation, and other issues. The applicant will meet with neighbors shortly, and consider these suggestions as the application progresses. Many of the comments and concerns dealt with the issue of trying to protect pedestrians from the weather, with some sort of covered connection from the parking areas, as well as severe transportation problems in the vicinity of the hospital.
Tracy Swagler will be staff coordinator. The Planning Commission public hearing date will be December 4th and the Board of Supervisors date will be December 9th. The committee suggested that the applicant return for a vote on a recommendation on the SEA/PCA at the December 2 meeting. It was also suggested that Mr. Sampson meet with the surrounding communities, including Fair Oaks Estates, Century Oak, Westvale Woods and Fair Oaks Hunt, at least. Because of the complexity of the application, it was suggested that after the meetings with the neighbors, Mr. Sampson should consult with Mr. Parnes about whether to make another interim presentation to the Committee with a status report before December 2nd.
The committee reviewed the staff report on the proposed Zoning Ordinance Amendment to allow Sports Training Facilities in the R-C District in conjunction with a public use. The committee discussed the amendment and the proposed additional standards for the use. The committee discussed the implications for the R-C, much of which is in Sully District, and other possible uses in the future. The committee discussed the schedule, and noted that the Western Fairfax County Citizens Association [WFCCA], which includes the Sully District portions of the R-C area, had met with Commissioner Alcorn already and would be reviewing this topic again at its September 17 land use meeting, and that interested SDC folks could participate in that meeting.
The consensus of the Committee was that this ZOA is a significant issue for the Occoquan Watershed and Sully District generally, but that due to the schedule, it would not be possible for SDC to take a vote on the ZOA up or down before the September 19 public hearing date. The consensus of the Committee was that SDC ought to express concerns about the ambiguities or amount of flexibility in some of the additional standards proposed. The committee discussed the following concerns and issues, [although it was not clear at this time whether staff would be making changes to the proposed language before the public hearing]:
After general discussion about the additional standards language proposed by staff, Mr. Frank moved that the Committee not take a position on the ZOA at this time, but express its concern to the Planning Commission that certain of the additional standards in the staff report need to be clarified and defined more specifically. Mr. Tessier seconded. The motion carried, 6 in favor [Frank, Pujanauski, Hawn, Hart, Heisinger, Tessier], none opposed. The consensus was that the committee members would circulate emails before the Planning Commission public hearing about the specific standards and areas of clarification needed.
Mrs. Heisinger distributed an updated map dated August 15, 2002 of possible alternate alignments of the Route 29 realignment/Battlefield Bypass. The committee discussed the drawbacks involved with many of the proposed alignments, especially in Fairfax County. It appears that the 234-Bypass segment is fairly well set, but that the 29-Bypass will be more difficult. A southern alignment using Balls Ford Road may be possible. Many of the lines on the map may be politically impossible. There will be public comment meetings in December regarding the proposed alignments. The advisory committee unfortunately will not be meeting before then.
There was no old business.
Mr. McDonald made a very brief report for informational purposes on the progress of the Springfield District APR task force, for the South County cycle, for which he is the chair. There were not very many nominations filed, and not very much with a direct impact on Sully District.
There being no further business to come before the assembly, the committee adjourned at approximately 9:55 p.m.
James R. Hart
Acting Chair, Sully District Council
Land Use and Transportation Committee